


The Detroit Cure

by Pineprin137



Category: Original Work
Genre: Mild Language, Vomiting, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 03:10:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14393025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pineprin137/pseuds/Pineprin137
Summary: Insanity. That’s the only way I can explain it. A moment of insanity while trapped in an impossible situation. How else can I make you understand that what I did...it was what I had to do.





	The Detroit Cure

**Author's Note:**

> Saw a prompt on Pinterest and wanted to give it a shot. I'm not a huge fan of zombies so I decided to give it my own spin.
> 
> Part of the flashback isn't in italics. As this is only my third work, I am still working out the kinks. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

There had to be a way out of here… If I could find a hole in the fence or a weak link. I mean, come on! I did not survive for two years in a fucking zombie apocalypse just to end up cornered by one on the way to visit their graves. I will not die on the anniversary of their deaths. Although, it would be rather poetic… No. I just...have...to...keep...running. Unfortunately, I have been running for hours and I’m exhausted. My knee is throbbing so bad I’m surprised I haven’t collapsed. My sneakers are caked in mud and my blonde hair is swinging in my fair with every footfall. 

I run along the rusted chain link preventing me from sliding into the dark water, swiveling my head in every direction looking for an escape. My only hope is avoidance of the...thing...pursuing me. By the way, you should know that all the movies were wrong. The undead do not go stumbling around and mumbling about brains. No, instead they seem to gain the agility of Olympic level gymnasts with the added bonus of military strategy. They turn into weapons. Deadly weapons that can infect with one bite. At least modern media got that part right. The only way to transmit the disease is to use...well...spit. Luckily, they tend to scratch more than drool, so as long as I can outrun her.. as long as I can keep her mouth away from me… 

I turn the corner and run into a stack of crates that were not there yesterday. Dammit. They’ve been watching me. They know my escape routes, which means I. am. Screwed. 

She rounds the brick wall and narrows her eyes searching for me. I hold my breath and pray that the shadows will keep me concealed long enough to come up with a new plan. I highly doubt it, but hope is the one thing that has kept me alive this long. By the small smirk on her face, I believe my luck has finally run out. But I’m not going down without a fight. My mama didn’t raise no coward. 

“Come get me, bitch!” Antagonizing the enemy may not be the best tactical plan, but like I explained, I am not in my right head currently. I blame my bravado on sleep deprivation, severe dehydration, and well, being a smartass doesn’t help. 

She charges me and I feel my skin burn as I hit the bricks. Ouch. If I make it out of this alive, by some miracle, that is going to be a bitch to treat tomorrow. Taking my face in her hands, she exposes my throat and... I panic. I kick and flail, I hit and scratch, I swear and try to scream. I wish she would get her damn hand off of my face. I can’t breathe. Sleep deprivation is one thing, oxygen deprivation? I think I’ll pass. I need air. I need to think. Gah, I can smell the rotting flesh. I can practically taste it. I want to gag, but I’m too busy trying to inhale. She’s spouting off some stupid speech about how she outmaneuvered me and I should just give in. I guess the movies got that part right. The villain does indeed get a little chatty in the end. I have to get her hand off my mouth. I...need...air..can’t...breathe…

_“You did it now squidge. If you tell mom and dad I will ruin you.”_  
_“Oh come on Bryce! I don’t have a choice. You know that if I lie and dad finds out he’ll revoke all my privileges and the dance is in a week!” _  
_“My life will be over! If you know what’s good for you, you will be quiet. Not one sound.”Suddenly his hand was over my mouth. I saw mom and dad through the _crack in the door, but I was at my big brother’s mercy. So I did what any little sister would in a desperate situation; I bit him.____

I was jerked back to the present by a yelp. Then I realized the reason I could taste the rot. I released her hand from between my teeth and pushed back with all I had. I gagged on the bitterness of dirt and filth. Turning, I vomited on the pavement. Great. It had taken me days to get a full meal and now it was a puddle on the ground. I kept one hand on the bricks and turned to where she was kneeling on the gravel. She wasn’t attacking me… why wasn’t she retaliating? 

“You bit me…” She looked up at me and I saw...a young girl. Maybe 15. She was still filthy, but her eyes were clearer, the haze of resurrection gone. The one who had been hunting me for weeks was gone. All I saw was a scared teenager who looked almost as confused as I felt. 

“Why did you bite me? Who are you?” She was looking to me for answers. Answers that I didn’t have. Answers that I would like as well.  
“Are you going to kill me?” My eyebrows shot up at her next question. Me? Kill her? What? 

“Uh...no? I mean, should I kill you? Are you going to kill me if I don’t?” I was already searching around the alley for an impromptu weapon. But other than a rusty crowbar about two feet to my left, I had no way to defend myself if she was faking. But why would she? What was the strategy here? To get me close and then turn me? 

“Why would I kill you? Who are you? Where are we?” It sounded as though she didn’t remember our game of chase along the river. Maybe she wasn’t faking. But I saw her. I saw the monster that had been on my trail. The one who had kept me awake for almost six days. Fear keeping me alive and out of her grasp, sometimes literally. 

“You were chasing me. You’ve been chasing me. For weeks. As for who you are? No fucking clue. And um...what was the other one? Oh right, we are in the remains of Detroit.” 

“Chasing you? I’m not a runner. I barely passed gym class. Why would I be chasing you?” Confusion was still the only thing I saw in her blue eyes. How is this possible? Could she really be cured...

“Well, uh you wanted to invite me for dinner. Literally. Guess you were hungry.” I couldn’t help the snark. I wanted answers, but she wouldn’t shut up long enough for me to ask anything. I saw her swallow as she digested (pun intended) the information. Chancing it, I stepped closer and offered her a hand up. Once she was standing I retreated a few steps and took inventory of her. I noticed a few things right off. One, she was wearing a velvet tank top. Velvet? In the heat of summer. I could only imagine how awful the feeling of wet, moldy black velvet was against her skin. God, she was never going to get that thing clean. Ever again. Might as well burn it. Two, she was a little older than my first estimate; maybe closer to eighteen or nineteen. Hopefully not too sheltered or naive. This world was going to chew her up, spit her out and then repeat the process. If she wasn’t able to handle it, she would become a liability to my survival. Yes, she was no longer an undead killing machine, but I didn’t come this far to be the reluctant savior of some teenage airhead. Three? All of the wounds and scars I had noticed during her rampant pursuit were gone. Including the remains of a bullet wound that should be right above her left breast. Which meant the wound that had probably ended her life was gone. She was alive. But how? I mean, what did I do differently? How was she...normal, for lack of a better word, again?  
“Come on. We need to get moving.” Her eyes focused on me as I spoke. She accepted the hand I offered and I tugged her back toward the river. She kept up pretty well, keeping my hand in a vice while we trudged over our earlier tracks. 

“Where are we going?” Hell if I knew. But I knew we had to move or more would come for us. They didn’t travel in packs per se, but they did protect their own. Protection...I had tried to protect myself... I had bitten her...Could something so simple be the answer? Bite them before they bite you? Could I have saved her life simply by sinking my teeth into her palm? Color me shocked. And disgusted. Nobody had thought of this before?! I mean yes, the idea of her filth in my mouth still forced a little bile up my throat, but if we could save the human race? It was worth it. 

“Well, I think I may have stumbled onto something. Something that could fix the chaos that has taken over. Something that could save the world. And I think it will go faster if there are two of us using it.”

“What’s that?” We had made it to the old dirt road at the edge of town. I was looking for a car. We needed a way to get out of here, fast. 

“I think I found a... cure. I...we...can save them. All of them. Which means we have work to do. So let’s get the hell out of dodge.” 

“I thought we were going to save them? So why are we leaving?”

“We need supplies and time to prepare. This isn’t going to be easy. But we’ll be back. We have a way and soon a plan; we aren’t going to abandon them.” As I looked back to the ruins of the city I loved, I was smiling. For the first time in two years, my hope wasn’t fake. I found a way. We would survive.


End file.
